


Song of the Stars

by Canocanopus



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friendship, Gen, Han Jisung | Han & Kim Seungmin are Best Friends, Kimi no Na wa. | Your Name. References, im so sorry im terrible in tagging, we need jisung's actual kimi no na wa song pls, well sort of college au since it doesn't really matter in the story, yeay we love these besties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28383264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canocanopus/pseuds/Canocanopus
Summary: Jisung wants to write a song so beautiful, the stars will not want to sparkle again after they listened to it. But his guitar and his lyrics-writing skills alone may not be enough to achieve this goal. So he asked for help.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8
Collections: SKZ Secret Santa 2020





	Song of the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yolrin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yolrin/gifts).



> This fic is a part of [Stray Kids Secret Santa 2020](https://twitter.com/stayfanevents) event! I wrote this fic with [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73QD47vttWA) in mind and the lyrics as written [here](https://vocaloidlyrics.fandom.com/wiki/%E6%98%9F%E3%81%AE%E5%94%84_\(Hoshi_no_Uta\)), so you might want to listen to it while reading! Hope you like this story :D

“Come again?”

Jisung groaned, throwing his head so far to the back he almost fell from the chair tilting along with his movement. He already said it thrice, even spelling the sentence per syllable the last time, what else is not clear enough for the boy in front of him?

“I want. To write. A song.” Jisung straightened himself again, glaring at the person currently raising their eyebrow skeptically at him. “So powerful, even the universe gasps upon hearing the intro only. It will be the most breathtaking song, and any comet that passes by the night sky when I sing it will pause to listen. A song so powerful, the stars will never sparkle again for they think this song is more beautiful than their lights.”

“Why do you make it sound like a curse instead?” The brunet scoffed, returning his eyes to the notebook spread open in front of him. Jisung could only emit a short laugh in disbelief as a response.

“Besides, why stars and comets? I know you’re one to use metaphoric expressions, but you don’t really use astronomical objects before.”

“Kim Seungmin, you _do_ know me well, huh,” Jisung uttered, grinning wide at the statement. “Well, I appreciate the question. So there’s this one movie-”

“There’s always one movie if it’s you.”

“Shut up.” Jisung threw a pen towards his friend’s head, who’s currently laughing mockingly at him.

“I just watched this movie that everyone has been talking about for years, and now that I’ve known what it’s all about I can see why! How two people’s lives were changed because of a comet, how it determined their fates throughout the story, and the way their universe worked as if the whole world was made for these two people, separated by time and distance, to be reunited happily together...”

His voice trailed off as the entire movie flashed vibrantly in his mind, every single colors and details flew around wildly, distant echoes of dialogues that sent chills to him when he first heard them, the emotional climactic sequence where the main characters met for such a short time only for them to be cruelly separated again by fate. It was the unrealistic dream he had been longing for so long, to have that special moment in life dedicated to his fated encounter with his soulmate.

“I just want this song to reach the stars, maybe they can work something out to relay my message to someone special out there.” Jisung breathed out audibly, a heavy lump in his heart slightly grew alongside the wish he just let out. He wanted to find this mysterious figure, still wrapped in a thick fog that hid their face, but connected to him with an invisible thread. Through this song, he wanted to make the meteors stop and listen to his request, to help him find that special someone while on their way around the Earth. He wanted to write a song of the stars, for that person might be as far away from him as the glimmering lights on the night sky.

“It’s very nice of you to describe the movie for me when you could’ve just said _Your Name._ ,” Seungmin commented, his grin widened as he noticed Jisung’s dreamy, melancholic look rapidly shifted to an annoyed face people would regularly show when they’re with him. Well, it’s fun to tease people, can’t blame him for that.

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m still friends with you.” Jisung cast him a dirty look. “Also, the movie is not the only inspiration. I heard that there will be a meteor shower tomorrow night, and I just think it will be neat if I can write a beautiful song to sing as I watch them pass by.”

“What a hopeless romantic.” Seungmin emitted another laugh in a manner that Jisung found to be _truly_ annoying. Again, he grabbed a pencil and threw it across the table towards his devilish friend.

“Well, why don’t you just write it yourself as usual?” Seungmin continued, nodding at a small book on the table. The tiny object looked worn, covered with new and old marks of pen scratches all over the light-blue surface and a few visible dents here and there. One spot on the cover was decorated with small stickers which colors had started to fade, the cartoonish drawings added up the childlike impression one would get from seeing the book.

“I’ve tried it out a few times, but they all sound too cheesy,” Jisung admitted, shaking his head with a tired look on his face.

“So, like usual?”

“I swear I’m going to actually hit you now.”

Seungmin giggled happily at the pouting boy, who then decided to give up on talking and proceeded to lay his head on the table’s surface. Silence once again fell between them, giving a comforting sense enough to cool down their heads.

Seungmin continued his previous work, writing down materials that he had been copying from one of the books on the table before Jisung suddenly barged into the peaceful library and try to take his focus away from the notes. If it’s any other person, Seungmin would probably glare daggers at them instead. But the round-eyed boy isn’t any other person, and he never had the heart to hush his best friend away.

The brunet sneaked a look at the dark-haired boy sitting the opposite of him, now flipping through the pages of the tiny blue book with an irritated look on his face. His so-called ‘lyrics journal’ had become the target of its owner’s frustration, who had started to furiously scribble messy lines on a blank page. Jisung sulked a lot, and Seungmin was already used to it at this point. He just never had the heart to ignore his friend’s gloomy face when he felt down.

“Okay, okay, I’ll lend you a hand,” Seungmin finally gave in, earning himself a pair of widened, sparkling eyes staring at him with hope. “What can I do to help?”

“Just brainstorm with me, try to write something that won’t make you gag upon hearing them.”

“Sounds hard.”

“You only came to that conclusion now?”

“Do you want me to help or should I just listen to you whine for one more hour?” Seungmin questioned with a hint of threat, to which Jisung only raised his two hands in defeat.

“Okay, since it will probably take a long time, maybe I can crash at your place until tomorrow night so we can discuss it easier. How does that sound?”

“You’re the best, Seungmin.” Jisung grinned, nodding in satisfaction.

* * *

Another strumming abruptly stopped. A single brittle strum followed, accompanied by a loud thump. Poor guitar, doing nothing wrong but still getting hit all the time.

Another loud rustling sound. It’s the third one in the span of an hour.

Another crumpled ball of paper thrown to the corner of the room. Mother Earth would be disappointed to see her trees be wasted like that. Seungmin would like to apologize to her for it.

“You should’ve used a pencil,” Seungmin commented.

“And you should’ve helped a bit more,” Jisung retorted, slamming the tiny journal on his head. “Why is it suddenly so hard to write now? I’ve written songs in less than half an hour before!”

He put the guitar on his lap aside and stood up, only to throw himself to his bed, then repetitively hitting his head to the fluffy surface of his pillow. The soft material surrounding him always managed to make him cool down his fire, whether it’s from excitement or frustration. It would be nice if he can just give up for the day and let himself fall asleep like how he usually did, but he also can’t ignore Seungmin’s presence in his room now.

While he was laying uselessly on his bed, his friend kept on scrolling on his phone, looking up words on online thesaurus and creative writing blogs while occasionally jotting down his findings. Remembering the words he said just now, Jisung felt guilt slowly creeping up on his back. Isn’t this supposed to be his song? Why is Seungmin the more hardworking one now? Jisung huffed in annoyance, feeling a bit disappointed at himself for how quick he surrendered to writer’s block.

“If you’re tired already, just go to sleep, Jisung.”

“And waste precious time? Hell no.” Jisung instantly shot up from the bed.

“Why are you suddenly so hard on yourself?” Seungmin laughed. “It’s not like you’re doing this for college stuff.”

Jisung fell silent. Seungmin’s not wrong, even if he doesn’t complete this song, his grades won’t be affected in any way. He could just give up and keep this idea stored away to be recycled in the future, but he didn’t want to. His memories, his feelings, his impressions after watching the movie were still fresh; how he suddenly missed someone he hadn’t met, felt an urgent need for this somebody he hadn’t known yet, longed for an unknown presence, in despair to find this seemingly faraway person.

These feelings were starting to suffocate him, and he needed to let them out through this song.

“Hey.”

The soft voice snapped him out of his train of thoughts. He turned his head towards the direction it came from, finding Seungmin shuffling through the contents of his backpack before yanking out his thick grey hoodie.

“If you want to write a song that will awe the entire universe, then why are you trapping yourself in this small concrete container?” The brunet asked after pulling himself into the oversized clothes, gesturing his hand around as he spoke. “If you’re out of inspiration, just drown yourself into what would inspire you.”

“And what you’re saying is....?”

“Get dressed, dumbass. We’re taking a night walk.” Seungmin stepped away and out of the room, while Jisung frantically jumped out of bed and grabbed a random outer from his wardrobe. He stopped by the opened door, then turned around and cast his eyes on his guitar. Maybe he should bring it along.

As soon as he walked out of the front door, he was greeted by the chilly air. It was quite breezy that night, the cool stream kept on flowing around him, delicately grazing his cheeks with soft, gentle touches. Loud rustlings of fallen dried leaves, twirling and fluttering in the air as if dancing along to the sound of natural music, calming and soothing for the distressed minds and souls.

“Hey,” a voice called him, to which he walked approaching.

“Where do you feel like going?” Seungmin asked, his hands tugging on the strings of his hoodie.

“I don’t know, isn’t this your idea?” Jisung laughed. “Why can’t we just go back inside and watch the movie again?”

“Is it the stars currently above us that you want to impress or the fictional comet in that movie?” Seungmin threw another question, which successfully silenced him. He did have a point there.

So they just walked in silence, both still not knowing where to go, but at least they can try to get some inspiration. Seungmin gazed up at the night sky, his cinnamon eyes reflecting the shining little spots scattered over the extensive dark firmament. They shone a little brighter than usual, which he considered would be great for their mission of seeking an idea tonight. It felt nice, just walking aimlessly in nights where the orange leaves fill in your sight, either shuffling in the branches or following the breeze passing by his figure. On his right, he suddenly heard a gentle plucking of guitar strings. He glanced sideways, noticing that his friend had pulled the instrument that was hanging on his back and started to play random melodies.

“Got anything yet?”

Jisung only shook his head, staring ahead with a blank look, clearly lost in thoughts. He occasionally switched from fingerstyle to strumming, sometimes playing a continuous melody for a longer time before pausing midway, his fingers choosing to drum on the wooden surface to fill in the silence. Has it always been this hard to find new ideas? He had made songs based on movies that he loved before. Why is it more difficult to do so now?

“What do you usually do when you’re in writer’s blocks?” Seungmin asked him again.

“Nothing, really,” Jisung mumbled, starting to strum random chords again. “I don’t usually get them, I think.”

“You don’t get the blocks?” Seungmin repeated, his eyes widened in disbelief. “Wow, that’s a skill that can be handy for my Creative Writings class. I’m jealous.”

“It’s true, though. Whenever I get inspired after doing something, like watching movies or, I don’t know, learning new stuff from classes, they don’t poof away all of a sudden like how it is now.”

“What makes it different tonight?”

“Beats me.” The round-eyed boy shrugged, completely clueless on that. “I must be looking like an absolute idiot now, walking aimlessly in the middle of the night playing random chords like I have nothing better to do.”

“They’re not actually random, I think.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know much about music, but I think you’ve been playing the same notes for the past 2 minutes or so.” Seungmin nodded towards the guitar. “Wait, is it notes? Chords? I don’t know what exactly to call it but you’ve been repeating what you’re playing now. It sounds nice, though.”

Jisung tilted his head. He didn’t even realize what he was doing, his fingers just moved on their own while he was deep in thoughts. He continued what he was doing, this time focusing more on the music he had been unconsciously playing. He felt a tug on his sleeve, coming from Seungmin who led him to a nearby bench, a few meters away from a convenience store.

“Keep on playing like that, I’ll see if I can find a melody to sing along with it,” Seungmin requested after Jisung sat down next to him. Jisung paused for a while, trying to remember the order of the chords, then started plucking on the strings again. Seungmin, with his minimum musical knowledge gained from his school days, tried to hum along. Sometimes the pitch of his voice was too high, sometimes it was too low, and when he found a proper one Jisung had moved to another chord.

“You seem mad,” Jisung commented with a laugh, taking a break from playing the instrument after quite a while.

“That’s because I am,” Seungmin huffed, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Suddenly he stood up and patted on his clothes. “I’ll go grab us something warm to drink.”

“Don’t buy me stuff with caffeine in it.”

“Who said I’m going to buy you anything?”

“You said ‘us’ just now!” Jisung protested to Seungmin’s back as he walked away to the store. Scoffing when he got nothing in response, he turned his attention to the sky, feeling slightly more dejected as his eyes were instantly filled by the twinkling tiny spots scattered everywhere above his head. How is he going to make something prettier than freaking stars? This celestial object has inspired great works throughout history, and his cheesy lyrics was definitely not something that could compete with those amazing creations. Was it too bold of him to dream big when in reality he’s only a small, insignificant being?

He shook his head, trying to put the discouraging thoughts away. His song isn’t going to be finished with his head down and his hands giving up to play again. So he began picking the strings again, playing the exact same chords he was playing before. After a few repeated times, he tried changing the order midplay, switching some of the chords in different places now. It sounded even better than before. Feeling the excitement kicking in, he tried humming random melodies along. His grin grew even wider because he found something that matched! Well, not all of it, but at least he got something new now.

He heard someone walking, followed by some soft shuffling noises and an added weight to the other end of his bench. Noticing the light grey color at the corner of his eyes, he decided to ignore his friend’s presence and continued on his fingerstyle play while humming occasionally. He wanted to imprint everything he already had for now into his mind so that he could rush on writing it down on the journal he left in his room.

After a few times repeating the sequence, a new voice joined in, following the melodic pattern of his humming. Seungmin singing along really was a nice addition, his unique nasally voice has that power that blended well with Jisung’s, which was lighter with a soothing sensation when singing lower notes like his humming now. A few times their laughter cracked when their attempts to fill in the blank parts of their singing melody horribly failed. But they’re getting there, and Jisung’s having fun even when his fingers have grown tired of moving endlessly, and Seungmin had never felt this weird combination of spirited joy wrapped in a relaxed, calm feeling that made him want to lay down while sing-shouting his lungs out. And the stars are watching, paying attention towards the two boys who harbored an ambitious target in their minds.

* * *

“-up-“

“-ke up.”

“Kim Seungmin, wake up!”

Seungmin weakly flailed his hand around, trying to swat away the disturbance in his dream. He didn’t expect to be harshly grabbed on the arm and feel his body shaken with just as much force. The groggy feeling immediately hit him as soon as he tried to lift his eyelids open. His slightly blurry sight gradually grew clearer, and he was met with the sight of a person pacing around in a panicked manner.

“What happened?” His voice sounded hoarse as he let out the question.

“We just spent half a day sleeping!” the dark-haired boy answered hysterically. “Why did you fall asleep as well? Aren’t you supposed to be a morning person? Man, what did my mom put in our breakfast this morning?”

“Oh, we fell asleep after breakfast?”

“Is that not clear enough already?” Jisung asked back with a burst of nervous laughter. He slumped down to the sprawled carpet, staring at his tiny blue book with a disheartened expression on his puffy face, his bedhead hair still wildly sticking out against the gravity. “It’s 7 now, so that means we just slept for 10 precious hours. The meteor shower is probably coming in half an hour and we still haven’t completed the final part of the song! That’s the important climax! Man, why am I always such a mess like this?”

“That’s what you get from forcing yourself to stay awake until 9 in the morning.” Seungmin yawned as he walked approaching his dispirited friend. “Go wash your face first, you look awful.”

“Look who’s talking.” Jisung threw a glare as he stood up. While Jisung walked towards the bathroom, Seungmin shifted his view to the opened page of Jisung’s lyrics journal. Lines of words they spent all night to form, with alphabets and symbols showing the chords, added with Jisung’s mysterious notes here and there that Seungmin couldn’t decipher the meanings himself. A smile grew on his face as he lingered his eyes on their almost-completed work, feeling proud that they managed to make something in quite a short time. Jisung should’ve appreciated his own effort more.

Something flashed in the corner of his eyes, making him turn around in reflex. Another flash of light outside the window, to which he approached and gaze upwards. His eyes widened when he actually caught the small streak of white lines disappearing as soon as its appearance in the darkening sky. His arms reached forward to open the large glass panels of the window, feeling the early night breeze, warmer than the night before, yet still providing him the same calming sensation.

“Jisung! It’s the meteors!” he yelled with a hearty laugh. Sounds of frantic steps followed afterward, then a slight wet drizzle which might have come from Jisung’s damp front bangs. His eyes grew even more round, sparkling brighter than the stars, with eyes widely opened in awe. Seungmin only laughed at his silent reaction, finding it rare to see the dark-haired boy completely fell speechless.

“Come on, let’s try it out!” the boy turned around and rushed to grab the guitar laying on the floor and the journal, which he threw across the room, almost hitting his friend’s face in the process.

“Han Jisung, can you calm down a little?” Seungmin could only laugh at the sudden excitement his friend had rediscovered after the quick session of self-pitying just now. Not paying attention to his words, Jisung plopped down the bed, making Seungmin bounce a little in his sitting position from the impact.

“The song’s still unfinished, what do you want to do about it?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Jisung answered shortly, his focus already diverted to the instrument wrapped in his hands, his fingers turning on tuning keys as he plucked on the strings individually to properly tune the sound. After a satisfied nod, he took a deep breath and started playing.

The room fell into a comforting silence, only interrupted by the mellifluous sound of six strings strummed and plucked, accompanied by a soft humming following the melody. A singing voice joined in, clear and sweet like the morning dew on a freshly bloomed flower, calling out to the meteor shower passing by, reciting his carefully written message, wishing the celestial objects to relay it to a special someone, waiting for him somewhere in this world. His melancholy rang out in the entire room, casting a spark of sadness into the listening ears around.

Then, another voice greeted him, as if wrapping the subtle blue in the air with gentle reassurance, as if playing the role that represented the stars and everything among them in the sky. Beautiful, glimmering with warmth, something one can hold on to whenever they’re feeling lost, almost falling into crumbles. This voice, through the lyrics, telling the other voice that they heard him, the universe heard his wishes. Don’t let go of those precious words, this voice told him. The two voices combined together, singing a song about these great expectations, these ambitious dreams, waiting to see whether their longing words could reach the destined one, still shrouded in mystery.

Opening his eyes that he had unconsciously closed, Seungmin was greeted with Jisung’s apologetic stare, followed by a quick shake of his head. This is the part that they still haven’t completed, only chords and melodies set but no words to fill in the blanks. The brunet flipped through the pages, looking for the lines he had written before going out last night. They might be useful. They’re already doing great, it would be a waste to halt their effort now.

Taking a deep breath, as the music gradually slowed down into gentle plucking of the strings, less energetic yet still conveying the beauty from the previous parts, Seungmin decided to follow the melody they had used before, only with different sayings from the random strings of words he had jotted down before. He caught the sight of a pair of eyes widening, clearly not expecting him to carry on. This is the final part, where they should highlight the amount of desire they had poured into this piece of work, how much they wanted the world to know of its beauty, how bad they want the stars to receive this song, to let the sky be informed of their intentions.

And they sang their hearts out together. They sent chills all over their figures from their own voices, an impact they definitely didn’t expect to get before. Once again, the music turned down its energy, replacing the powerful words with soft, pleasantly reverberating notes. And with a calm strum, the melody faded away.

The silence that replaced the flow of music was familiar, yet different at the same time. The warmth still lingered, like a bright light just washed them over. Their eyes met, exchanging looks that contained mixed feelings of surprise, joy, and hope. The dark-haired boy laughed, and the brunet giggled as well. They turned their heads to the side, casting their sight on the dark upper space outside. No more lights flashing by.

“Do you think it reached them?” Jisung shuffled to crawl closer to the widely opened window, his front bangs swayed along to the night breeze that entered the room.

“Not sure about that, but look.” Seungmin nodded his head upward. “No stars.”

“And?”

“You scared them!” Seungmin exclaimed, shaking his friend’s shoulders as he laughed gleefully. “ ‘A song so powerful, the stars will never sparkle again for they think this song is more beautiful than their lights.’ Remember?”

“Oh damn, you’re right,” Jisung muttered, his confused look expressed his disbelief. “This is a weird coincidence, though. Last night the stars were clearly visible.”

“Maybe they really heard it,” Seungmin said. “Congratulations on your new song.”

“Nah, _our_ song. You helped out a lot, remember,” Jisung corrected, lightly shoving Seungmin’s side. “Maybe the meteor shower will tell your special one too when they found them.”

Seungmin shrugged, fully knowing that there would be no way a lifeless space object could ever do such a thing. But well, one is allowed to dream, and Seungmin will let Jisung be happy in his thoughts about the possibility.

He is not a star, but if he were one, he would definitely be pleased to relay Jisung’s song to his soulmate, somewhere out there. He would tell them that they were lucky to be blessed with such a pure-hearted boy, who loved them so much, he’s willing to sing his heart out to the universe about his fated one.

So he prayed that the actual stars would do so as well. He prayed that after this, the universe will always think of Jisung’s song. His song of the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! First of all, thank you so much for reading this fic. To dear yolrin, I'm sorry for the late gift, let me know whether you enjoyed your Christmas present from me! I wrote this fic while hoping that next year, we will actually see the release of Jisung's song that was inspired by Your Name. Fingers crossed and prayers for this one to come true hehe
> 
> Happy holiday everyone! I wish for your 2021 to be better than this year :D


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